Friday, August 21, 2009
His Happiness is My Happiness
"Mummy, what shall I wear?"
"Mummy, don't forget to bring the vitagen today."
"Mummy, I love school. I like to go to school."
"Mummy, teacher said no need to bring homework today."
"Mummy, I don't want to eat breakfast. I will be too full to eat the party food."
"Mummy, maybe I will win a prize."
He wanted to wear his belt, just like daddy. Unfortunately the buckle of his belt broke and I couldn't fix it. Lousy belt! He was happy when I put some gel on his hair, just like daddy. He selected a long sleeve shirt, just like daddy. He tried on his Chinese New Year shirt but then he said he looked like a girl when he wore it. Another short sleeved shirt which looks just like daddy's, was too big for him. So he picked the long sleeved one. I thought it would be too hot for him but I let him be.
He didn't want to have his breakfast because he wanted to save his stomach for the party food. We bargained about breakfast and he eventually drank his milk and ate one biscuit and off we went to school with him clutching the heavy bag of vitagens to be shared with his friends. At the school, he looked soooo happy. He ran around playing "catching" with his friends. Sweat trailed down his face and neck from all that running and I thought that he should have won that short sleeved shirt I picked. :) For the record, he didn't even want to try it. Just exerting some independance here I guess.
I love seeing him so happy. I love him so much. His happiness is my happiness.
My Mother Said......
"If you kick my bag, you watch it!"
I told my girl to stop kicking the other girl's bag. "If it is in your way, use your hands to gently push it out of the way. How would you like it if someone kicked your bag?"
She agreed that she would not like it. However, I told her that her friend was wrong as well. She should not talk in that manner. What she should have said was.... "Please don't kick my bag. You will spoil it."
My girl told me the girl said "My mother said one....."
I sincerely hope her mother didn't teach her to say "You watch out/it!"
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Little Love Notes
Here they are:
There are more like these but I've lost them. Most of them come with lots of hearts and flowers with the couple holding hands or flowers. There was even one dressed in a wedding gown!
Aahhh little ones these days. I find it all very amusing but when he came back one day and said the girl mentioned the word "kissing", alarm bells rang and I had to quickly remind him "Cannot simply go around kissing people one ok? Kisses are meant for daddy and mummy only."
Apart from that, I think its sweet that they are such good best friends.
This morning he wanted to give a return note. He drew a similar picture and tied it up with a rubber band. However, when we reached the school gates, he chickened out and gave me the letter. "I think I don't want to give lah, mummy."
Welcome to the new century where even little girls are bolder than the boys. ;)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Parenting Challenges
"Mummy, today we were taking photos and the boy standing behind me vomitted all over my hair and clothes. Teacher gave me another uniform to wear but she says I must return it tomorrow." (I found her hair ribbon and net all torn and smelly. The boy's mother who happened to be around had helped her to "wash" her hair. She must have felt so bad and tried to clean the ribbon thoroughly ...till it tore. The girl smelt of vomit. Poor girl. She had to go around like that for a few hours.
"Mrs. MG, I think you need to know that your boy has been scratching his private part in class." (Alamak. The boy has this unconcious gesture of scratching there whenever he is feeling self concious and attention is on him.)
"Mummy, the naughty boy took my pencils and he almost poked my eye with it."
"Mummy, today, I climbed on the wall."
"Mummy, today, I looked at the boy behind me and he complained to teacher that I was trying to copy his test paper."
"Mrs. MG, I'm sorry, I couldn't stop him from crying. We were trying to play a clapping game and he couldn't clap in time with the rest, then he put his face down on the table and started to cry and we couldn't pujuk him no matter how we tried." (On that particular day the boy had been crying very hard when I went to pick him up. Usually he is laughing and smiling.)
And the list goes on........ Each day I hear something new.....
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A Quick Grammar Lesson In The Car
You use "much" for things you cannot count like the rain, sand, sugar etc. You use "many' for things you can count, like trees, lamp posts, people etc.
Then we had a game. We pointed out to things that we saw along the way and decided whether to use "much" or "many". The kids were happy with the game.
Suddenly the small one said.... "Mummy, the car is going fast and I can't count the trees so, its so "much" trees." Hehehe.
Grammar lessons can be fun. It need not be taught straight from a text book. It can be taught anywhere, anytime using real life examples. ;)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Food Digestion From a Kid's Perspective
"Mummy, you bluff me. You said that I will grow big if I eat food but how can I? After I bite the food it all disappears. So how can I grow big?"
I explained to him that when he eats, the food goes into his body and the good things get distributed all over his body and makes him grow big while the bad stuff comes out in his poo.
After a while he said......
"Mummy, I'm thinking that in my body, there are two robots. One robot will catch the good food. The other robot will catch the bad food and throw them on the floor and that comes out in the poo."
Lol. I guess you could put it that way......
Friday, August 14, 2009
Manglish Mandarin Chinese
Recently, I asked him whether he understood what teacher says when she speaks Mandarin Chinese to them in Class. He looked a bit bashful, then he said.....
"Yes, mummy. I know what 什么(shén me) means. It means ... What is this?"
I praised him. "Oh, thats very good. That means you understand what is going on in class."
He smiled and then he went on to say.....
"Yes, mummy. And 什么 一 (shén me yī) means .... What is this one?"
For the benefit of Henny and other readers who are not Malaysian, Malaysians are fond of saying "this one" instead of "this" For example,
"This one is not mine"
Or adding "one" at the end of sentences like this...
"I tell you... this fried rice is really delicious one."
My son was thinking one step ahead and making his own conclusions in Manglish (Malaysian English) which we speak at home. lol.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Home Tuition in Chinese Mandarin.... by a Banana Mom
"Can you stop playing with the dictionary. Don't waste time!" ..... Mummy, let me find lah, I am faster than you...."
"Hmm... I can't find the meaning of this word. Nevermind we'll skip it. ..... But I want to know mummy...... Well, I can't find the meaning and I don't know it, so lets just move on, shall we?"
"Aiyoh! Why you highlight the whole line? You know these words already what. We don't have the time to check each and every word. Just highlight the words you don't know.......But I want to know the whole sentence... can or not mummy, can you write down the meaning of the whole sentence for me.....No need to be so detailed one lah.....as long as you understand roughly can already lah."
"Mummy, no lah, its not pronounced like that. Its...........Wuah, your Chinese pronounciation not bad already hoh. Much better than mummy's.....Beams proudly.....
"This word means......"indicate" in English......."What does "indicate" mean?" ..... Errr errrrr.... wait lah, I check the dictionary for you." (Replace the word "indicate" with any other difficult English words. It happens all the time to us. This is just an example.)
And then finally..........
"Hmm..... no more battery already. Wait hah, I charge the dictionary first."
You see lah? Cham or not, trying to teach your kid Chinese when you don't know Chinese yourself is really really tough. Sometimes the father comes in and asks us......
"Eh, how come you two studying like fighting like that one hah?"
Monday, August 10, 2009
Thinking in English
However, I noticed that he thinks in English or uses English to learn Mandarin.
MG: Baby, write "huo"
My Boy: What is huo in English?
MG: Fire
My Boy: Oh Ok. (Writes the Chinese Character for "huo" or fire)
MG: Now, write shui.
My Boy: What is shui?
MG: It is water.
My Boy: Oh Ok (Writes the chinese character for "shui" or water)
After a while........
MG: Hey, you can't do it like this you know. Mummy cannot tell you the words in English. You have to listen to the Chinese words then write it.
Eventually........
He received a 6/6 for his ting xie.
MG: Wow! Thats good. Well, done. Did you listen to the Chinese words?
My Boy: No. Teacher told us "Huo" is fire. "Shui" is water.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Tattling
My kids are fond of tattling, particularly the older one. She would often slide up to me, then in a whispering voice say "Mummy, baby didn't put soap when he washed his hands" or "Mummy, baby did this or baby didn't do that."
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Raising a Musical Child
Another game that we like is the clapping game. We would clap along with the beat of the music we are listening to.
Now that is what I call cheap and fun music appreciation that you can do for free in the comfort of your own home.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Setting up Craft Time for Children - Homemade Card
Now that the kids are older (aged 5 & 7), I find that its really easy to set up Craft Time for them. We keep a hoard of craft supplies in our "Craft Cupboard" at home. We have coloured paper, ribbons, pens, glues, paints etc, some of which are recycled items. Old Cards, Hampers etc are good for recycling craft items.
During the previous school holidays, I folded two hard white cardboard paper as a base to make a card, then I cut up some shapes using some coloured paper (You can ask your child to cut up the shapes themselves if they are old enough). I put them into two separate plastic folders (for each of the kids) and told them to design a Father's Day Card with the following instructions:
- Your card must have the words "Happy Father's Day" on it.
- Draw a picture of Daddy and You.
- Use the coloured shapes to paste and decorate your card.
Then I provided them with coloured pens, glitter pens, pencils and glue. Its really easy to set up this craft time. You don't have to send your child to expensive art classes or lessons for them to exercise some creativity.
This is the inside of her card. She has drawn our family portrait. :)
This is the front of another card she designed for me for my birthday.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Save the Best for Last
For example, if there is chicken nuggets in the food, they won't touch the nuggets till the last bite. If there is hot dog in the fried rice, they may even put aside all the hot dog, to eat it last of all, free of the rice and whatever "yucky" vegetables in the rice. Oh, No, their hot dog must not be "contaminated" by the vegetables must it? Nosiree.
So, its rather easy for me to get them to drink water for example. All I have to do is place a bottle of vitagen beside the water glass and the water gets downed in double time. So that they can drink the vitagen or yoghurt drink last of all.
Save the Best for Last. That is certainly their motto.
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